Intriguingly, overall, as many as 37% of familial IPF and 25% of sporadic IPF cases have shorter telomeres, whereas as many as 24% of familial IPF and 23% of sporadic IPF cases without TERT or TERC mutations also have significantly short telomeres, suggesting the existence of other gene mutations in IPF (25, 26). Here, TERC is linked to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.